BABY GOT BACK(ING)

TikTok Is Funding Montana Users’ Lawsuit After Ban: Report

Weeks before the suit was filed, lawyers for the company reached out to several users who are now plaintiffs in the case, asking if they wanted to fight the ban.

TikTok is quietly picking up the tab for a lawsuit brought by a group of creators after Montana’s government banned the app’s operations in the state, according to a new report in The New York Times. A spokesperson for the company acknowledged that TikTok was funding the lawsuit in a statement, saying in part, “We support our creators in fighting for their constitutional rights.” At least two of the five plaintiffs in the case told the Times that lawyers for the company had approached them in the weeks leading up to the ban, asking if they’d be interested in fighting it. The law firm leading the challenge said it had reached out to many Montana creators, letting them know TikTok would help out if they wanted to challenge the legislation. “The fact that TikTok is paying for the suit is irrelevant to the legal merits of the case,” one of the firm’s lawyers told the Times. TikTok, which is also separately suing Montana, is not required to disclose when it underwrites its users’ legal cases.